German, Turkish diplomats spar in Istanbul
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Friday urged Turkey to respect human rights during a testy visit at which she sparred openly with counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
The former German Green party co-leader also rejected Turkey's territorial claims to Greek islands in the Aegean and urged Ankara not to stage a mooted military incursion into northern Syria.
Baerbock was paying her first visit to Turkey after holding talks in Greece that came with old rivalries between the two NATO defence alliance neighbours rising once again.
Turkey accuses Greece of illegally arming its web of islands -- some of them visible from the Turkish shore.
Greece counters that Turkey is staging provocative military sorties over the region and threatening to go to war.
"The Greek islands of Lesbos, Chios, Rhodes and many others are Greek territories and nobody has the right to question them," Baerbock said alongside Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias in Athens.
"We cannot solve the problems of the east Mediterranean by escalating tensions," she added during a joint media appearance with Cavusoglu.
Cavusoglu retorted: "Why are you closing your eyes to Greece's unlawful actions."
Turkey and Germany developed a warm friendship in the era of former chancellor Angela Merkel.
Germany accepted millions of Turkish workers and pushed for broader EU assistance to Ankara aimed at rewarding it for hosting people fleeing the war in Syria and other conflicts.
